When it comes to ongoing healthcare initiatives aimed at improving care outcomes, the Acute Hospital Care at Home (AHCAH) program exceeds expectations by also increasing patient comfort, lessening the burden on hospitals, and lowering spending.
While the AHCAH program was launched by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its overwhelm of hospitals, the improved outcomes and lower spending seen with the program have lasted even after the pandemic ended. Offering in-patient level care at home allows hospitals to care for more patients, decreases a backlog of filled beds, and lessens the need for unnecessary procedures and treatments resulting from delayed care. The AHCAH program has shown the benefits it offers to the healthcare system, but it will nevertheless expire if Congress does not act by the end of the year.
Extending the AHCAH Program
The AHCAH program has already been extended once; it was initially planned to last only through the pandemic’s emergency period, but the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 extended AHCAH through December 31st, 2024. Since the time of its expiration has arrived, Congress must once again act to keep in action this initiative that improves outcomes while also lowering healthcare costs, a win for patients and carers alike.
While the deadline is quickly approaching, its renewal is not entirely out of the question. The Telehealth Modernization Act of 2024, which has bipartisan support in the House and Senate, includes an extension of the AHCAH waiver through 2029 that is supported by the American Medical Association. The hospital-at-home waiver offers hospitals reimbursement for providing at-home care to their patients with Medicare and Medicaid. The waiver also removes the requirement that a nurse must be present 24/7.
The Impact of AHCAH’s Expiration or Extension
The AHCAH program is no small feat and has become a cornerstone of Medicare programs. There are over 350 approved hospitals across more than 130 health systems that implement this innovative form of care delivery, and the expiration of the AHCAH program could be detrimental to these systems that rely on providing care-at-home services.
All patients can benefit from AHCAH. Rather than overcrowd hospitals, sometimes to the point where patients receive emergency care in hallways because no rooms are available, patients can be moved to their homes to complete the remainder of their care. For the aging population, care at home offers the opportunity for them to age in place, something that three-quarters of those in the United States over the age of 50 desire.
Knowing the universal benefits of the AHCAH, the expiration of this model can hurt all patients, but especially those with dementia, social barriers, and physical/sensory disabilities—for these individuals, care at home can make all the difference in their comfort, adherence to treatment, and treatment success.
AHCAH also offers healthcare workers a glimpse into the lives of their patients, which offers greater insights that can further improve the care they’re capable of providing.
Additionally, care-at-home programs demonstrate their superiority when it comes to lowering spending while improving healthcare outcomes. A report by CMS found that the mortality rate for AHCAH was lower for all 25 Medicare Severity Diagnostic Related Groups (MS-DRGs) they analyzed and significantly lower for 11 of these 25 MS-DRGs. Spending is lower, as well, with care-at-home shown to have lower Medicare spending in the 30 days after treatment for more than half of the top 25 MS-DRGs.
An extension of the AHCAH initiative gives health systems time to implement a care-at-home program or continue improving and expanding those that are already in place. It allows these facilities to provide for patients who can and want to be treated at home, increasing the care capacity of hospitals without increasing the costs required to provide this care.
How Inbound Health Can Help
If the AHCAH program is extended, it will provide your healthcare system with a vital opportunity to bring the benefits of care-at-home to your patient population, and Inbound Health can help.
Inbound Health partners with health systems to build, launch, and operate acute and post-acute care at home programs, allowing you to take the guesswork out of the best way to bring to life a successful AHCAH program that improves outcomes and lowers spending.
When it comes to the AHCAH program, the ball may currently be in Congress’s court, but you don’t have to wait to learn more about how Inbound Health helps health systems.
References
Fact Sheet: Report on the Study of the Acute Hospital Care at Home Initiative | CMS. (2024, November). Cms.gov. https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/fact-sheet-report-study-acute-hospital-care-home-initiative
H.R.7623 – 118th Congress (2023-2024): Telehealth Modernization Act of 2024. Congress.gov. https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/7623
Hospital at home saves lives and money: CMS report. (2024). American Medical Association; https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/population-care/hospital-home-saves-lives-and-money-cms-report
Davis, M. R. (2022). 77 Percent of Older Adults Want to Remain in Their Homes as They Age. AARP. https://doi.org/1062105/3752820195
